Private Lessons
by Liselle129
Summary: In a story inspired by the dance in The Headband, Aang convinces Katara to learn some of his acrobatic moves. Kataang, obviously. Chapter 3: Final Lesson in Ba Sing Se, takes place just before the events of Lake Laogai.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Author's Note: Watching Katara dancing in The Headband, it occurred to me to wonder where she had learned to do gymnastics/acrobatics, since she's never moved like that before. I concluded that Aang must have taught her, which led to some very interesting possibilities of what those lessons might have been like. Thanks to SnakeEyes16 for previewing this for me.

First Lesson 

Katara was conducting one of her regular waterbending lessons with Aang. All formality and structure had disintegrated, however, when she showed him how to create a platform of ice at his feet and use the water under him to zoom around. Of course, this kind of thing often happened during their lessons, so Katara wasn't particularly concerned. They raced each other up the river they were using for practice (down the river would have been far too easy). They twined back and forth, Aang gaining and eventually passing Katara. She was irresistibly reminded of the time they'd gone penguin sledding at the South Pole, and she suspected that he was using airbending now to increase his speed, as he had then.

Still going at full speed, Aang drove his ice-board right into the riverbank, using the impact to help launch himself forward as he jumped at the exact same moment. He tucked his body, did a somersault in midair, and landed with flair, balancing perfectly on one foot with the other knee bent at a sharp angle and his arms raised into the air. Katara came to a much more sedate halt, stepping lightly onto the shore before her ice even made contact. She still hadn't quite figured out why her skin never seemed to get cold when she was manipulating ice with her hands or around her feet, but she didn't want to question it. Maybe it was just that she was in control. She was just glad it allowed her to be in the freedom of her underclothing. As usual during their lessons, Aang was just wearing his knee-length pants.

"Showoff," she scolded, though the fact that she was laughing made any chance of his taking her seriously impossible. "I never would have thought of dismounting like _that._"

"Sorry," he apologized. "I guess I just get carried away with the speed."

"Boys!" Katara rolled her eyes rather theatrically. When she brought her gaze back to Aang, she found him regarding her speculatively.

"I could teach you," he offered.

"What?" Katara exclaimed, suddenly alarmed. "I'm not an airbender."

"You don't have to be. Look at that girl with Azula. She's not any kind of a bender."

"Ty Lee?" Katara wondered how she had picked up her name. She couldn't for the life of her remember ever hearing it used.

"Yeah, her. Maybe, if you learned some of the ways she moves, it could help you prepare for what she's going to do and even counter her."

"Well…" It did sound logical, and she hated that she'd been bested by the acrobat before.

"Come to think of it, Azula moved pretty well, too," Aang continued thoughtfully. "She reacted to my evasion a lot better than Zuko did."

"Okay, you've sold me!" she exclaimed, raising her hands in surrender. He did make a lot of good points, and besides, that pleading look he was giving her could melt stone. Aang's face brightened immediately.

"Great! Let's start with something simple."

"Wait. You mean now?"

"Why not? Aren't we done with waterbending for the day?"

"I guess," Katara admitted slowly. They _had_ covered everything she'd planned for the day.

"Well, if we go back now, Toph will just want to beat me up with some more earthbending."

"You can't avoid it forever," Katara reminded him, barely suppressing a giggle.

"I don't avoid it," Aang retorted defensively. "I give her just as much time as you."

Katara decided not to mention that he had more earthbending to learn, having just started, and he would eventually need to allow correspondingly more time for that. Instead, she sighed, defeated.

"Fine, let's start," she allowed. Besides, these reciprocal lessons could be useful for her, as Aang had pointed out. And the opportunity of spending more one-on-one time with him didn't figure in to her decision at all. Of course it didn't.

"Okay. Have you ever done a cartwheel?"

"A what?"

"A cartwheel. It's called that because your arms and legs look like the spokes of a huge wheel." Aang stretched his arms out at an angle on either side of his head and spread his feet to about shoulder width, keeping all of his limbs straight. "Then, you just roll." He did so, and Katara watched the fascinating alteration of blue dye and pale skin as he turned end over end.

"Just like that," he concluded. "Ready to try it?" With embarrassment, Katara suddenly realized that she'd been so distracted by watching the whirling pattern of his tattoos that she hadn't really been paying attention to how his body was moving.

"Could I see that again?" she requested, trying to sound nonchalant.

"Sure." Fortunately, he didn't seem to have noticed anything amiss. Aang repeated the move, and this time, Katara carefully observed as he seemed to almost launch himself from his right foot onto one hand, then the other, allowing his legs to follow through and land one at a time until he was back in the same position he'd started, but several yards down the beach. He jogged back to her.

"That doesn't look too hard," Katara remarked.

"It's not, really. It just takes a little practice to get the right feel. Give it a try."

Feeling unaccountably nervous, Katara inhaled deeply and took up a stance similar to his. She tried to picture in her mind what she was going to do, and then, she pushed off with her back leg and managed to get her hands onto the ground. Unfortunately, she had failed to provide enough power to go all the way over, so her legs fell back the way she'd started, and she landed roughly on her knees.

"That was a good first try," Aang told her. "You just have to trust your body to carry you through." Katara nodded and tried again. She made it to the other side this time, but her knees were bent the whole time, and she was sure it looked dreadful. Aang remained encouraging, however, and after a few more attempts, she thought she had the hang of it.

"It's so…freeing, isn't it?" she offered once she'd successfully completed it with the right form. Aang just smiled at her, nodding slightly, and she realized how silly it must sound to him to have her talking about the freedom of a cartwheel when he could actually fly. She did a few more of them, eventually getting so she could do several in a row. Aang laughingly followed her down the shore.

"Don't wear yourself out," he admonished. "We still have some other things to cover."

"But it's so much fun!" Katara exclaimed.

"Yeah, it is," Aang agreed. Their eyes met, and with his shining and full of life, Katara felt her breath catch. He cleared his throat and looked away. "But we haven't even scratched the surface yet."

"Okay, what's next?" Katara had a new-found confidence that she could do whatever he taught her.

"The next move should be pretty easy for you." He demonstrated it for her. It started just the same as the cartwheel, but Aang balanced on his hands for a second, twisting his body slightly so that he landed on both feet at the same time, facing back toward her. Katara tried it and mastered it quickly, ready for the next technique. Aang stood thoughtfully, as though considering what his best option would be.

"I think we'll do the bridge, now," he decided. "It might be a helpful thing to get the feel of some of the moves you'll learn later. Besides, it's a good stretch."

"Okay. What is it?"

"Well, the easy way to get into the right position is this," he began, lying on the ground. He then bent his knees and elbows, placing his hands firmly beside his head. Finally, he raised himself up, supported by his hands and feet with his torso arched upward, and he did sort of look like a bridge. He looked at her upside-down, and she giggled.

"Well, that seems simple enough," she said. Aang bent his elbows again, and then almost seemed to throw himself off the ground, turning in mid-air so that he landed on all fours, like a cat. She was pretty sure airbending was involved with that. He watched as she followed precisely what he had done. As she suspected, it wasn't difficult. She was almost afraid to ask, but she did, anyway. "What's the hard way to do this?"

"You start from a standing position and lower yourself into the bridge. First, you raise your hands over your head, like this." Aang described each of his movements as he made them. "Tilt your head back, then arch your back. Let your eyes guide you as you stretch your arms to the ground. It can be a little scary at first."

"I think I can do that," Katara informed him.

"I'll spot you on this," Aang told her.

"Spot me?"

"It just means I'll be close enough to catch you if something goes wrong, so you don't fall on your head or anything."

"Oh." The sand was pretty soft, but she shrugged, figuring that he must know what he was doing. Katara took up her starting position, and Aang stood behind her, placing one hand close to the small of her back and the other at her neck. He was not even touching her, yet Katara felt acutely aware of how close he was and wondered belatedly if she should have put her clothing back on before they started this. Clearing her mind of these distractions, she raised her arms and tried to imitate what he had done.

Katara bent backward until she reached a point where she was struck by a sensation of vertigo, certain she was going to fall. She quickly straightened up again.

"It's okay," Aang said, seeming to understand what was happening. "Just follow your hands, and let gravity pull you down."

"Maybe I was wrong. Maybe I can't actually do this." Katara sounded like she had before trying the gliders at the Northern Air Temple, and she hated herself for it.

"Yes, you can. Trust me."

It was the last two words that decided her, and Katara tried again. She still kind of panicked as she passed her balance point, but Aang, as promised, caught her before she could hit the ground. After a few more attempts, she finally gained enough confidence to touch her hands solidly onto the ground and support herself. Shortly after that, Aang let her do it without him waiting to catch her. As she rose from one of these, he was smiling brilliantly at her, and she could tell that he was trying very hard not to say "I told you so." Even so, she couldn't help grinning back. His smiles had always been so contagious.

"Anything else you want to teach me, Sifu Aang?" she asked teasingly. He grinned even more broadly at her form of address.

"A lot of things," he answered, and Katara had the odd feeling that he meant more than just these acrobatic techniques. However, he was continuing on before she really got the chance to think about it. "I think we have time for one more move today."

"Bring it on!"

"This one's pretty tricky, but it's more about flexibility than anything else. I can't actually do it, but I know the theory, and you should be able to get it, with some practice."

"Wait. You're going to teach me something _you _can't do?" This idea was setting off alarm bells in Katara's head. "How's that supposed to work?"

"Like I said, I know how it's supposed to be done," replied Aang patiently. "The thing is, I'm a boy."

"You know, I'd actually noticed that on occasion," Katara remarked dryly, arching an eyebrow. If she wasn't mistaken, Aang's cheeks colored slightly.

"Yeah, well, we're…built differently," he explained, rubbing a hand nervously on the back of his neck. He seemed to find this subject uncomfortable, and Katara just couldn't resist having a little fun with him.

"Surprisingly enough, I've noticed that, too," she remarked. At his expression of consternation, though, she regretted her flippancy and apologized. "Sorry. Go on."

"Anyway, girls can do this, but boys usually can't."

"Well, all right. What do I do?" Katara was wondering what it was, and what made it easier for girls than boys.

First, Aang instructed her to bend into the bridge position again. From there, she was supposed to sort of kick her legs up over her head and land them on the other side. Eventually, the idea was that she could use that momentum to bring herself back into a standing position again.

"I'm going to have to hold onto your legs, so you get the feel of the motion," Aang warned her almost apologetically before touching her. "Your right side is dominant, so you should lead with that foot."

Katara said nothing, and Aang grasped her firmly, one hand on the ankle and the other behind her knee. He carefully raised her right leg, and she allowed the other to follow naturally. She clearly felt the shift of her weight to her hands, then back to her legs again as they lowered to the ground. When her right foot planted in the sand, Aang moved one hand from her knee to her left ankle, making sure her feet were safely anchored before letting go.

"Got it?" he asked softly, and there was something indecipherable in his tone. Katara decided to ignore it. She found herself really enjoying Aang as the teacher for a change. It almost amused her to contrast that with her attitude from months ago, when he'd first tried to give her bending advice.

"More or less," she answered him. They practiced it a few more times, allowing Katara breaks in between to allow the blood to drain out of her head. She gradually got the hang of kicking her legs up and over, requiring less and less assistance with each attempt. Finally, there came a time when she finished the move and felt Aang shift under her. His arms encircled her waist, and before she truly realized what was happening, he was bringing her up into a standing position.

Surprised, Katara just stood there while Aang held her. She understood that this was how the maneuver was supposed to finish, once she really became secure with it, but it was hard to think about anything else but his proximity. His head was very close to hers, almost too close. After a few, breathless moments, he seemed to come out of some kind of trance, let her go, and stepped back. Katara wasn't quite sure whether she was relieved or sorry about this.

"I guess we--" he began.

"It's probably--" Katara said at the same time. They both broke off and laughed, breaking the tension.

"You first," Aang offered, gesturing toward her rather extravagantly.

"I was just going to say that it's probably almost dinnertime, and we should be getting back to the others," she completed her thought. "You?"

"Pretty much the same thing." They dressed quickly. When they were done, Aang added, "Can we plan for this as part of every waterbending lesson?"

The thought was very tempting, but Katara still had to be a responsible teacher. After all, the fate of the world might be riding on how much he learned.

"If we have the time for a full lesson," she allowed. "Not if it's just a few minutes to splash around."

"Great!" This seemed to be enough for him.

"It will only be at the end, when we've finished the waterbending for the day," she added, with a measure of sternness. "Don't think you can slack off. You have to work really hard to keep up. We can't have you falling behind while you try to teach me. Your training is more important."

"No problem," he assured her, and his self-assurance made Katara briefly entertaine the insane thought that he'd been intentionally holding back in order to spend more time with her. She'd once thought that he seemed to be progressing more slowly since Toph joined the group, but Katara had assumed it had been the fact that the techniques were getting more challenging. Besides, he was having to divide his memory and concentration now, which was just as good an explanation.

_I'm getting delusional, _she decided. _I'm just tired and hungry. _She would be more reasonable after a meal and a good night's sleep.

And more ready to face their next lesson.

--

Member of the Boomeraang Squad: charleegirl, Jesus.Lives, Liselle129, Strix Moonwing, Avatarwolf, MormonMaiden, libowiekitty, Snows of Yester-Year, La Vixen de Amor, chocolatecoveredbananacheese, Aangy, and honorary member SnakeEyes16

Author's Note: In the commentary for Serpent's Pass, the creators mentioned that they wanted Katara to be running around on something like a jet-ski, so that's the idea I was using at the beginning. I made a bit of a joke out of Katara knowing Ty Lee's name because we don't know how she learned it. I'm planning about three chapters for this, a sort of mini-fic. I envisioned this being somewhere between Bitter Work and The Library, since it's implied that there are a couple of weeks of heavy training skipped in there.


	2. Chapter 2: Second Lesson

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Author's Note: I'm finally back with another lesson! I've been working on this for about a month but, as I've told readers of other stories, the holidays really put me behind.

I am deeply grateful to SnakeEyes16 for his input. This story might have been possible without his technical expertise, but it wouldn't have been nearly as good.

Second Lesson 

Aang was in an excellent mood. Their group had decided to take a little vacation tomorrow, and he was looking forward to it. They were going to take turns choosing what to do. He already knew where he wanted to go. He just hoped Katara would like it.

In the meantime, he had finished all his training for the day and was leading Katara in another acrobatic lesson. Toph had been extra hard on him today in anticipation of the coming day off, but he was determined to find enough energy to do this. It was only the second time they'd been able to fit it into their schedule, and it was impossible to know when they'd get another chance.

There wasn't any body of water to speak of this close to the great desert that filled the center of the Earth Kingdom, so their waterbending exercises had just consisted of playing around with Katara's bending water. Aang had still stripped off his shirt and boots in consideration of the heat. While Katara had remained clothed for the waterbending, she'd removed her overdress for this portion of their training, since it would only get in the way.

First, Katara had run through everything she'd learned so far. Right now, Aang had her practicing handstands. He had a series of movements in mind for today in which the handstand would be essential, and he had to manage their time well to make sure they could get through the whole sequence.

"Good," he told her. "The next move is called a front limber. You start with the handstand, then flip your legs over your head."

"So you end up in the bridge again?" Katara guessed, her brow furrowed as she thought her way through it.

"Exactly." Aang was pleased that she was learning to visualize the movements before she tried them; even before he demonstrated for her. It was an important step. He showed her what it looked like, anyway, and then came over to help her with it.

Following his instructions, Katara did another handstand into Aang's hand, which he rested lightly against her lower back to give support. She began bringing her legs down then, and he had to provide more strength to her back to ensure that she didn't fall. Meanwhile, he let the first leg go by him but caught the second.

"You need to feel for the ground with your foot," he explained. "Once you've practiced it a few times, you'll get a better sense of where it is." After her right foot was firmly planted, Aang let go of the left leg so that the two sides could meet.

"That's not too bad," Katara announced from her upside-down position. They ran through it a few more times, after which Aang called a break to give her arms a rest. He decided to tell her what their goal for the day was.

"I want to teach you the front handspring today," he informed her. He showed her what that looked like, throwing himself onto his hands and using the forward motion to almost bounce off the ground, propelling his body back up onto his feet. "The things we've been working on are good preparation for that. Here's what I'd like you to try next." It was sort of the same thing at a slower pace, halfway between the limber and the handspring. He went up into a handstand but immediately began bringing one leg over so as not to lose the momentum and get stuck. He landed his legs one at a time and simultaneously removed the weight from his arms, essentially walking himself back into a standing position.

"The ground's a little hard for this, though," Aang complained, frowning. Their earlier lesson had had sand below them, which gave Aang an idea. He'd seen Toph convert sand to rock, so going the other way should be possible. He instructed Katara to stand back some distance, not quite sure what his results would be. Then, he closed his eyes and pressed his hands onto the dry earth, concentrating on breaking apart the pieces and creating soft sand. He felt the ground soften beneath his hands and knew he was succeeding.

"Aang!" At Katara's exclamation, Aang opened his eyes to find himself up to his armpits in sand…and sinking! He let out a yelp of surprise and instinctively stretched out his arms to slow his descent. When Katara looked like she was coming toward him, however, Aang waved her away with one hand while trying to use the other to keep his head and shoulders above the surface.

"Stay back; I got it," he told her, hoping he sounded more confident than he felt. He took a deep breath and summoned all the concentration he could. He thought there was a waterbending move that might help him out of this. He brought his hands together in front of him, sweeping the sand along with them. The movement began to pull him down, but he ignored both that and Katara's worried cry. He heaved the sand up beneath his body until it expelled him from the surface. Katara came up and pulled his arm until he was on solid ground again.

"Are you all right?" she demanded, kneeling and hugging him.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he assured her, glancing back toward the unstable area he'd inadvertently created. "I guess I overdid it."

"I guess," Katara agreed. She pulled away and looked at him with a curious and even slightly awed expression. "You can make quicksand?"

"Apparently."

"I wonder if Toph knows she can do that."

Aang thought the matter over carefully before answering.

"Probably not," he decided. "She can only really 'see' when the earth under her is fairly solid, so I doubt she's ever tried to make sand, let alone quicksand."

While he worked at fixing his mistake, creating a solid foundation underneath and making the grains of sand above stick to each other a little better, Katara expounded on the possible applications of this discovery.

"That could be really useful in a battle! You could create a barrier of quicksand your enemies couldn't even see, and they'd stumble right into it."

"You could also use mud," Aang contributed. He stepped experimentally onto the sand again. It gave beneath his feet, but only as much as would be expected on the average beach. He continued to walk around, testing for solidity and any drastic variations in the ground's composition.

"Mud?"

"Sure. A waterbender and an earthbender working together could create a pit of mud around, say, a squad of firebenders. Then the waterbender could freeze them into it."

"They could just thaw themselves out," Katara objected.

"True, but that would take time. Meanwhile, they'd be immobile and vulnerable to other attacks."

"You know, you could do all that yourself."

"I guess I could, but as long as we have both earthbenders and waterbenders, we might as well use them for stuff like that," Aang replied. "That keeps me free for things that only I can do, like airbending."

"And firebending?" Katara suggested. Aang glanced sharply at her. She knew that he had vowed never to try firebending again, so he wondered if this were some sort of test.

"And other Avatar stuff," he hedged, not really answering the question.

"This is all good strategy. We'll have to mention it to Sokka." Katara seemed content to let the subject drop, although Aang knew better than to believe that it was abandoned forever.

"Sounds good," he agreed absently. He extended a hand to her. "It's safe now." Katara took his hand and stepped across to the newly formed sand, also checking it gingerly with her bare feet. She apparently had removed her shoes and stockings while he'd been checking the stability of the ground. He guided her through the "walking" move he'd just demonstrated before the diversion of the quicksand, and she practiced it until she could do it almost unassisted. Then they moved on to the handspring.

"Are you sure about this?" Katara hesitated with a doubtful expression on her face.

"You'll be fine," he insisted. "I'm sure you'll pick it up in no time." This required more concentration from him than the other things they'd done because he had to follow her fairly quickly alongside as she moved, actually bearing her weight at times to help her through it. Her confidence built as she worked on it over and over, however, and the assistance Aang needed to give became gradually less.

"_What _is going on here?" demanded a voice from behind them. Losing her focus just as she was bouncing off of her hands, Katara started to fall onto her back. Aang's reflexes were quick enough for him to get under her and prevent her from hurting herself but not enough to maintain his balance. His concentration had been disrupted as well, and the pair went down in a tangle of arms and legs. Sokka stood several feet away, his arms crossed and face like a thundercloud.

"I – we were – I was just—" Aang fumbled for an explanation at the same time as he was trying desperately to struggle out of his compromising position. He wasn't making much progress with either.

"Aang, stop," Katara commanded imperiously, ignoring her brother for the moment. "You're only making things worse." Aang wasn't sure whether she was referring to the words or his movements, but he decided to play it safe and ceased both. Katara smoothly extricated herself and stood facing Sokka defiantly. Thus freed, Aang took the opportunity to get to his feet and stand beside her.

_How can she be so calm? _Aang marveled as he battled his embarrassment.

_Well, it's obvious, isn't it? _came the cool, logical response from somewhere deep inside his brain. _You don't affect her the way she does you. _He nearly bit his lip at the bluntness of the answer. Yes, it was obvious…and painful. Still, it was no worse than he had expected, based on previous experience, and he pushed the uncomfortable thoughts toward the back of his mind.

"I didn't think you could find enough water out here to waterbend for this long," Sokka challenged with his jaw jutting forward, clearly still looking for an answer to his original question. He had a point, of course. As Aang had previously noticed, the land here was dry and hard. That had been the whole reason for his sand experiment.

"Aang has been teaching me some new fighting techniques," replied Katara, and Aang blinked. He hadn't really thought of it that way, but he could see how such an argument would appeal to Sokka as a warrior. Aang remained silent, trusting Katara to know best how to deal with her brother.

"Is that what you call it?" Sokka shot back, looking and sounding unconvinced. "Show me." Katara's mouth stretched into the predatory grin that Aang had learned to fear, and he surreptitiously backed away from her. He didn't know what she was planning, but he was absolutely certain that he wanted to be out of range of whatever it was.

Katara visibly judged the distance between her and Sokka, and then launched into an energetic variant of a roundoff. Instead of landing, she caught Sokka squarely on the chest with both her feet and knocked him down. As he landed on the ground, she tucked her body and rolled clear, getting back to her feet with a triumphant smile.

Aang felt his jaw drop. He certainly hadn't taught her _that._ He'd learned these maneuvers mostly as a means of evasion (supplemented with his airbending as he gained in proficiency) and hadn't thought much about the offensive potential.

Sokka had clearly had the wind knocked out of him, so the other two waited in silence as he caught his breath. Aang wanted to try to help him, but he didn't think the attempt would win him any points with either side, so he stayed where he was.

Sokka slowly sat up and took another minute or so to get his lungs to draw air properly. He made several false starts before he was finally able to speak.

"Okay, I'll grant you it's useful," he acknowledged. "But does he have to…_touch _you like that?" Aang flushed, recognizing that some of the places he'd touched Katara while spotting her might have been seen as intimate under other circumstances. He'd been too busy to really think about that.

Well, mostly. Not that it seemed to matter to Katara one way or another. Aang noticed, however, that her cheeks did seem to have a slightly pink tinge to them at the moment. She was probably just offended by Sokka's insinuations. In any case, she again answered so that Aang didn't have to.

"For safety reasons, yes," she said calmly. "He has to help me while I'm learning new techniques. You wouldn't want me to get hurt, would you?" Sokka's eyes narrowed, and Aang sucked in his breath in response to how pointed the question was. They all knew that protecting Katara was the most important thing in the world to Sokka. Practically everything he did could be traced to that single duty. His sister had effectively backed him into a corner.

"Fine," Sokka gave in, but not without conditions. "I'm watching you from now on, though."

"What about Toph?" Aang blurted out, regretting it when those suspicious blue eyes turned back on him.

"What about her?"

"Won't she wonder where you are?"

"Yeah, do you really think we should leave her alone?" Katara added, with an almost mocking tone that Aang didn't completely understand. He knew that Katara and Toph still had some issues to work out, so maybe that was it. Sokka's resolve seemed to waver for a moment, but he recovered quickly.

"Toph can take care of herself," he stated emphatically. "As she keeps reminding us every chance she gets."

"It's still a good point," Katara argued. "None of us should be left alone for too long, just in case those girls catch up with us again." Aang glanced between the siblings, realizing that, once again, it would be up to him to devise a compromise.

"We can work the specifics out later," he announced, stepping forward but not getting between the two. "As for now, we were almost done, anyway. We'll just run through this a few more times and head back to camp." He paused, looking back and forth at Sokka and Katara as he waited for their response. He breathed a soft sigh when he saw their body language change subtly.

"Okay," agreed Katara.

"Whatever," Sokka shrugged. He settled himself against a rock to observe them. Aang tried not to feel the eyes boring into his back as he and Katara returned to the sandy area to resume the lesson. There was overall a more businesslike feel to the endeavor with Sokka present, but maybe that was a good thing.

Instead of thinking about his audience, Aang focused on giving instruction and encouragement. He was finding that he really liked teaching, and he didn't think it was just because Katara was his student. There was something very fulfilling about imparting your knowledge to someone else and watching them absorb it, little by little. He wondered if it was at all like this for her, when she was in the role of teacher with him.

As promised, Katara practiced the handspring a few more times. She could still not quite complete it without help, but Aang declared himself satisfied anyway. Besides, the sun was beginning to set, which meant it was high time for them to rejoin Toph.

Despite the exhaustion of his body, Aang found it hard to get to sleep that night. He was too excited about what tomorrow would bring, wondering what the others would choose for their mini-vacations. He must have checked his flute three times to make sure he knew where it was. The last thing he thought before he finally drifted off was that he hoped Katara wouldn't be in too much of a hurry to reveal his quicksand experiment.

He thought it might be fun to surprise Toph at their next earthbending lesson….

--

Member of the Boomeraang Squad: charleegirl, Jesus.Lives, Liselle129, Strix Moonwing, Avatarwolf, MormonMaiden, libowiekitty, Snows of Yester-Year, La Vixen de Amor, chocolatecoveredbananacheese, Aangy, and honorary member SnakeEyes16

Author's Note: I had a really hard time ending this chapter. We all know how things go after this, but I didn't want to go heavy on the foreshadowing. I think it's more ironic to have Aang with this positive attitude about what's going to happen. And you know how I love irony.

Review responses:

redskin122004: Are you asking a question, or telling me?:) Anyway, thanks.

Aangsfan: Well, funny and good is what I usually go for.

jliljj: The thought that really struck me as fun about this was the rich possibility of sexual tension, so I don't know that I'm any less, um, perverted than you.

Anti-R: I was kind of wondering when Aang had time to check out the ballrooms of Ba Sing Se, but the demonstration he gave was sort of a line dance, and I don't think there's any ballroom in the world that would cover those acrobatic moves.

GeorgiaPeaches: That's the hope!

BlackRose108: Good thing I like writing Kataang. I'm trying to update fairly frequently, but I have an awful lot of balls in the air.

nutshak: Well, thank you. I love writing!

Wishing Only Wounds The Heart: Well, mini-fic seemed an appropriate name for something that's not a one-shot but also not a lot of chapters.

Aangs fangirl: I was surprised that no one else seemed interested in answering the question of how Katara learned to do all that stuff. I'm glad you're enjoying this.

Ryuujin The Dragon King: Actually, I've seen plenty of guys who can do the splits better than I can!

ishmaranara: I hope this was a second, good little scene. Thanks!

shiro-wolfman-k: I'm so happy to be an inspiration! I appreciate your work in translating my other stories. I check in periodically to see where it's at and how many reviews there are. I noticed you recently posted three more chapters, so thanks for that!

Eagle101: That's a Spanish-speaking fan of mine who has been following my work for quite some time. He's been translating a couple of my stories into Spanish, and he checks in with a review once in a while. Anyway, I'm happy you like this.

Sunkissed Guacamole: Great!

AvatarJunkie: Well, I still haven't re-watched that episode, so I can't confirm that. I just had no recollection of anyone exchanging names while they were fighting.


	3. Chapter 3: Final Lesson

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Author's Note: Here we are at the long-awaited final lesson. In the interests of time and not repeating myself, I've skipped a few. This has been fun to write but a lot of work. I'd like to send one more thank-you to SnakeEyes16 for helping me with the research on the moves. I added a little tidbit for you at the end, based on our recent correspondence. I think you'll know it when you see it.;)

Final Lesson 

"Come on, there has to be someplace to waterbend around here." Katara took Aang by the wrist and began leading him through the winding streets of Ba Sing Se, feeling unreasonably giddy. She knew that they had problems yet to face – Appa was still missing, the Dai Li were watching their every move, and it was uncertain whether they would ever get to see the king – but for the moment, she was ready to put all that aside.

In fact, the city had much to recommend it. Food and shelter were not a daily concern, as they had been during most of their journey. Everything Katara could ever imagine needing or wanting was available within a few blocks. Thick walls and an army of earthbenders stood between the Fire Nation and her.

Her true enjoyment of their stay here stemmed from something more subtle, however. She remembered only too well the somber crossing of the desert, during which she had watched Aang steadily withdrawing from her. This had all culminated in the night spent on the treacherous Serpent's Pass, when he'd actively pushed her away. Katara knew that he was hurting and trying not to feel it. She'd always been there to comfort him, but she hadn't understood how much she also gained from such moments until they were withheld. It had been like being without the use of her right arm. The depth of her feelings towards him actually frightened her, and his distance hurt more than she would have imagined possible.

Her Aang was back now, though, and she was determined to never take him for granted again. She found herself touching him at every available opportunity, simply delighting in the fact that he allowed it. This attitude was probably foolish, but Katara no longer cared.

They reached a large fountain in the middle of a plaza, and Katara dropped Aang's arm in order to begin manipulating the water. She coiled it like a serpent, twining it around Aang to bind him. He watched the technique until she handed the water over to him and let him try it on her.

The trick was to quickly trap your opponent's arms, effectively preventing them from bending or fighting. A more powerful waterbender could take control of the water and keep from being bound, and a strong firebender could use firebreath to evaporate it, but it still had its uses.

As Aang concentrated on the movements, Katara could see the sadness still lurking in his eyes, and she wished there were something she could do. She thought she understood how he felt to be separated from his oldest companion, since she knew how it had been to be emotionally separated from Aang for a while. In fact, their errand today had been to get flyers printed bearing Appa's image, in hopes that this would help to find him. Since it would take several hours for them to be done, it made sense to get some practicing done in the meantime.

There wasn't enough water to do really big things, but Aang still managed to take the water cascading from the fountain and make it into an ice slide that twisted around and curved into the pool below. He even convinced Katara to go down it with him. The ride, brief though it was, held its own exhilaration. Katara sat behind Aang with her arms and legs wrapped around him, letting him use air to get them started. There was at least one point where she was sure they would go flying off instead of making the turn, but Aang managed to keep them on track.

After they'd splashed down and rolled apart, coming up laughing, Katara declared she'd had enough and melted the slide. She thought she caught some groans of disappointment from a group of children who'd been watching them, but it really wasn't safe for anyone who wasn't an airbender or a waterbender, and those were in pretty short supply in the Earth Kingdom capital.

They climbed out of the pool, and Katara pulled the water out of her clothing while Aang air-dried himself. When Katara lifted her gaze, she found Aang looking at her speculatively. He took a small amount of water back out of the pool and turned it into ice. She wondered what he had in mind.

"Don't look," Aang warned, and he turned his back, making intricate movements with his hands. Curious but wanting to accede to his wish, Katara turned her attention to other things. She amused herself by doing back walkovers around the fountain. At last, Aang declared that he was done and presented her with a flower made out of ice.

Katara suspended the small item between her hands so that she could scrutinize it. It was a delicate, many-petaled creation of a variety she'd never seen. That wasn't surprising, actually, since she hadn't spent much time in places where flowers were blooming. She wondered if this were something native to Aang's home at the Southern Air Temple. She didn't ask, and he didn't offer the information.

The ice sculpture was heartbreakingly beautiful, wherever in his mind Aang had found it. As soon as he stopped concentrating on it, though, it would begin to melt. The fact that he would expend this much effort for something so transitory was part of what made him so special.

Katara felt her eyes welling up against her will. She wasn't sure if Aang could see that, but he at least commented on her silence.

"Is there something wrong with it?" he asked, drawing closer to look critically at his work. Katara shook her head slowly, swallowing down the lump in her throat and trying to find her voice.

"No; it's perfect," she assured him. To give herself a moment to compose herself, she sat on the low wall surrounding the pool and gently lowered the flower to float in the water, sending it off with a current so that other people might get the chance to enjoy its beauty before it vanished.

"What's the matter?" Aang shifted from foot to foot, as though he were trying to decide whether to sit beside her. Katara collected herself and looked up at him.

"I have nothing more to teach you," she said simply.

"What do you mean?" he seemed genuinely blank.

"I mean that I've taught you everything I know about waterbending," she clarified. "You're as good as I am now." In fact, he was probably much better. Katara didn't think she could possibly create an ice sculpture as detailed as his flower. When she thought back to the way he'd made himself into a snowman back at the North Pole, it was obvious how much his finer control had improved.

"So…I've mastered it?"

"Yes, you have." Katara smiled and stood up. "That means it's time for you to teach me something!" Aang grinned back at her, lighting up his whole face. As she watched the transformation of his features, feeling her breath stolen away by the effect, Katara was struck by how much she loved him. It was not the love of family, to which she'd alluded at other times. It was a definitely romantic, penetrating-every-fiber-of-her-being kind of love. She wasn't sure exactly when this had become true, but she had the sense that she had felt this way without knowing it for quite some time.

As she pushed this knowledge to the background for the time being, the pair rushed through the city again, this time to find a good place for acrobatics. Another advantage to being in the city was that Sokka had completely forgotten about his resolve to watch Aang and Katara train. Katara thought Suki was largely to thank for that, but there had been plenty of other distractions between the desert and the walls of Ba Sing Se.

There was really no shortage of places for this activity, and they had discovered that the many earthbending arenas made suitable practice grounds for their purposes. At the moment, however, they found a grassy part of a park where there weren't too many trees.

A bigger issue for Katara was what to wear during their lessons. Stripping down to the bare essentials was all very well when it was just their little group in the wilderness, but exposing her undergarments in the middle of a large city just didn't feel socially acceptable. On the other hand, the long panels of her dress weren't appropriate for these kinds of movements, either. The layers she and Sokka had worn during the winter had been lost along with Appa, and that would have been too warm, anyway.

To solve her dilemma, Katara had purchased a close-fitting black shirt that she began wearing under her dress. It was short-sleeved and ended at her waist. This allowed her to take off her overdress while still observing the basic requirements of decency. She revealed this shirt now, waiting for what Aang would show her today.

Katara had taken advantage of the relative freedom of the past two weeks to throw herself into their acrobatics lessons. She'd completed the front handspring and moved on to backwards moves. This had been quite scary at first because she couldn't see where she was going. She literally had to throw herself backward and hope that the ground was where she thought it was. Aang had been there to help her, of course, but it had been difficult nonetheless.

Katara had mastered the back handspring and followed with the back-flip. This required somewhat less concern about where the ground was, since she wasn't putting her hands down and risking spraining a wrist or something. On the other hand, it also meant that she had to move faster and get higher to make sure she'd get her body all the way around in time. There were many parts of her that were available to hit the ground before her feet were in position, as she'd had occasion to learn even with Aang to cushion her falls.

She'd quickly found that starting with a round-off or a back handspring helped her to get the altitude she needed to complete the back-flip. Once she could successfully repeat the move on her own (without Aang's airbending, which she strongly suspected he'd been using at times), the back tuck and pike had not been that much more effort to learn. Lately, she'd been working on some additional combinations of these maneuvers. She was expecting more of that, but Aang surprised her.

"You said it was time for me to teach you something new, right?" he said thoughtfully after they'd finished their stretching routine. When she nodded, he went on. "I think it's time for the aerial. It's kind of like a cartwheel, but in mid-air. That is, you don't touch the ground with your hands." He showed her what this looked like, and it was, quite simply, beautiful. As he'd said, he started with a form that looked ready for a cartwheel, but he launched off of his right leg, turned in mid-air, and his legs whirled over his head to land one at a time. It actually reminded Katara a little bit of the flat seed-pods that were twirling their way to the ground from the trees around them. She wondered if that was where Aang got the idea.

Katara asked to see the move again so that she could pay more attention to where the arms and torso were. It looked possible, but she knew it would take a lot of practice. Practice with Aang's hands on her waist, back, hips, maybe occasionally a leg…

_Focus, Katara. _So the close contact of these lessons was another thing she'd been enjoying. What of it? She wrenched her thoughts back as she realized Aang had just asked her something.

"I'm sorry, what?" she said, trying not to blush. She was pretty sure she was failing, but there were some advantages to having dark skin. "I was…thinking my way through it." Well, that was technically true, as far as it went.

"I said, do you remember the one-handed cartwheels we were working on?"

"Oh. Sure." They'd covered those about a week ago. Now that she knew what an aerial was, it made sense for one-armed cartwheels to be a step on the way to learning how to do it.

"Good. Let's do a few."

Katara did them, first with the leading hand, and then with the second only. The second one was harder. When he was sure she was doing all right with them, Aang did a few alongside her, probably just for the fun of it. Finally, he declared that she was ready to learn the new technique.

"There are a couple of things to remember about this," he said. "First, you really have to jump with your leading leg. Just drive it right down into the ground and push off. You can give a little hop first, if it helps. Second, keep your, um, chest high and moving forward. Third, lift your other leg really high and just straight up. Don't worry about form; that will come later."

"What about my arms?"

"There are a few options on that. It's usually good to get your right arm out of the way so you're not tempted to put it down. To begin with, it might be easiest for you to start with your arms up over your head, then swing them down as you jump to sort of pull you around." He demonstrated this, bringing his arms sharply down to his sides as he turned.

"Okay, let's try this." The hardest part, Katara quickly found, was trusting her legs to bring her safely back to the ground. She just couldn't get quite high enough and would touch her hand down at the last second, causing her to land quite awkwardly. Aang had to catch her more than once to keep her from spraining something. That produced a distraction in its own right, which had the effect of making her worse rather than better as they went along.

"Let's go at this a different way," Aang suggested after a while. He had her take up her starting position, right foot forward and hands stretched up above her head. "All right, now lean forward and bring your left leg up." Katara obeyed, thinking she could see where he was going with this.

"Like this?" she asked, bending so that she was nearly parallel to the ground, left leg straight behind her. Aang circled around and gently took hold of her extended leg. She felt him lift it upward, causing her to automatically go forward more. She was sure she was going to tip over, but she found a new balance point and steadied.

"Feel that?" he inquired of her. Her first impulse was to say that of course she knew he was touching her leg, but she bit it back.

"Yes," she said instead.

"That's how high your leg needs to get when you jump." He let go and walked around the side. It wasn't that Katara didn't believe him, but her nose felt awfully close to the ground at the moment. Aang put his hands gently around her ribcage. "You have to think about lifting this, though. Also, turn this way after you jump." He turned her torso to her left.

"Are you sure? It feels pretty awkward."

"It's easier once you leave the ground. Twisting like that will help you stay in the air longer, and it clears the way for your legs to come around."

Katara stood up abruptly, blood rushing to her face for more reasons than one.

"Okay, I think I've got it." Katara noticed Aang was blushing, too, so at least she wasn't alone. She tried again and found that thinking about it the way he suggested (and not thinking about him watching her) really worked. She still didn't quite make it the first time, but the second time, she did. It wasn't pretty, but at least she got through it.

When it finally was gracefully done, she knew it as soon as she straightened up. This was not only because of the way it had felt, but also due to how Aang looked. When she turned to him, his eyes were shining, and he was smiling proudly at her. She felt a warm glow rush through her body at his clear approval. She wondered if he felt this way when she complimented his waterbending. As though by a mutual signal, they hugged each other.

After the hug, the two drew back but did not completely separate. Their eyes met, and for one wildly insane moment, Katara considered telling him how she felt. Something stopped her, though. It might have been the knowledge that they were being watched. Maybe it was simply the recollection of how much yet lay ahead of him. She didn't want to be a distraction from that. Maybe she already was, but that gave her no right to make matters worse.

"Thank you," she murmured, unable to think of anything else to say but feeling the irresistible need to say _something_.

"I…you're welcome," Aang responded, looking a little confused. Katara suspected that he, too, had considered saying something else.

"The flyers are probably done by now," Katara added, pulling away from Aang reluctantly. "We should get Sokka and Toph to help us with them."

"Yeah, we should."

Katara could sense the sadness stealing over him again, so she hastened to reassure him.

"These will work, you'll see," she said, risking taking his hand as they walked out of the park. "Someone will have seen him, and we'll find him in no time." He turned that deep, gray gaze on her, and her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth as the intensity of his expression threatened to overwhelm her.

"Thanks, Katara," he said simply, giving her a genuine smile. And though their joined hands quickly became moist, neither of them let go until they reached the printer's shop.

--

Member of the Boomeraang Squad: charleegirl, Jesus.Lives, Liselle129, Strix Moonwing, Avatarwolf, MormonMaiden, libowiekitty, Snows of Yester-Year, La Vixen de Amor, chocolatecoveredbananacheese, Aangy, and honorary member SnakeEyes16

Author's Note: Sadly, this story is over. The events of Lake Laogai proceed immediately after this, and there just isn't much time between there and the end of the season for any more lessons. After that, of course, Aang is unconscious for several weeks, and they go pretty much straight from The Awakening into The Headband. I hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Review responses:

Aangsfan: Maybe Sokka was a little ridiculous, but he was also being him.

Dakyu: I'm not sure if you meant slow in the plot or in the updates, but it's done now. There really wasn't much in the way of plot to begin with. The idea was just to show how Katara might have learned the stuff she did in The Headband and throw some Kataang in there along the way.

DuHSPaZZiNGFel: Well, yes, it's the second season because I'm leading up to the events that occurred in the second episode of Season 3, and there just was no time between for this all to occur.

SnakeEyes16: Actually, since your body would be twisted and at least partially facing the ground, you'd probably have to go into a backwards move. You'd definitely need some serious momentum to make it work, though. Anyway, it was just a crazy idea I came up with, but I think I've seen similar things in movies.

bubba2494: Oh, I just thought I needed to bring Sokka in. I don't know if this is soon enough, but these chapters are pretty time consuming.

reconrox: Sorry, no Tokka this story, unless you want to count the subtle hints in the last chapter.

Justcallmewolfy: I wanted to alternate viewpoints so that we could see the situation from both sides. Therefore, chapters 1 & 3 were Katara, but 2 was Aang.

GeorgiaPeaches: Yes, well, what are big brothers for?

nutshak: Thanks, I'm trying to. Of course, it would be easier if Nickelodeon would air some more episodes!

donjonkeeper: I guess this answered your question.

LiveInThaskyE: Yeah, wouldn't it be cool to see earthbenders make quicksand in the show? That would have made short work of the drill, for instance.

Aangs fangirl1214: Actually, the moves of previous chapters were fairly basic and introductory, if you do this sort of thing. This one was more advanced.

ishmaranara: Thank you. I think I actually prefer writing Aang's point of view more than any other character. Unfortunately, since his thoughts and feelings are probably the most obvious on the show, writing for him is also often the least necessary.

shiro-wolfman-k: I'm really amazed that I can affect you so much, especially in a language that is not native to you, but I'm glad it's true. Thank you very much for your continued patronage.

i love snoozles: Okay!


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